Google Revamps Gmail for Productivity and Privacy

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“Today we’re announcing major updates to help the more than 4 million paying businesses that use G Suite work safer, smarter and more efficiently,” David Thacker vice president of product management for G Suite, Google’s suite of cloud-based productivity applications, says in a blog post. “This includes an all-new Gmail, with a brand new look on the web, advanced security features, new applications of Google’s artificial intelligence and even more integrations with other G Suite apps. We’re also introducing a new way to manage work on the go with Tasks.”

Google introduced a new security feature called confidential mode. Thacker says the feature makes it “possible to protect sensitive content in your emails by creating expiration dates or revoking previously sent messages. Because you can require additional authentication via text message to view an email, it’s also possible to protect data even if a recipient’s email account has been hijacked while the message is active.”

As The Verge notes, Google also added integrated rights management, which lets users “block the forwarding, copying, downloading, or printing of particular messages.”

The search giant also unveiled new AI-powered features in Gmail, like nudging, smart reply and high-priority notifications, which Thacker says will allow users to “spend more time on work that matters.”

To boost productivity, Google now enables users to see and click attachments in their inbox before ever opening a message thread. Users can also hover over messages to do accomplish tasks like RSVPing to a meeting invite, archiving an email thread or snoozing an email until later.

The all-new Gmail experience is available for businesses to start using today in the G Suite Early Adopter Program (EAP) and can be turned on in the Admin console. The new features will start showing up in users’ inboxes in the next few weeks.